Top 12 moments of the 2013 Seattle Seahawks championship season

February 7, 2014 7:46 PM

Photo: TIMOTHY A. CLARY, AFP/Getty Images

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Top 12 moments of the 2013 Seattle Seahawks championship season

After a season like this one, it's hard to narrow it down into just a dozen big moments. But we've done out best, selecting the top 12 most memorable moments of the 2013 Seattle Seahawks season. Scroll through the gallery to see our choices, and vote for your top four moments in the poll below.

After the Seahawks danced in their locker room during an hour-long lightning delay at CenturyLink Field, Sherman kept the party going when he intercepted San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick and danced with the Sea Gals cheerleaders in Seattle's 29-3 victory over the rival 49ers.

There's nothing like a good rivalry. In Seattle's first meeting with San Francisco this past season, running back Marshawn Lynch made the 49ers look foolish when he stopped short of the goal line and walked into the end zone for his second of three touchdowns that night at the CLink.

The Seahawks rallied from a 20-3 halftime deficit to beat the Texans in Houston, and the biggest play of the comeback was Richard Sherman's 58-yard interception return for a touchdown that tied the game and broke Texans QB Matt Schaub for the rest of the season.

In the fourth quarter of a tough defensive battle in St. Louis, the Seahawks had to punt the ball away and give the Rams a chance to win it with a final drive. With the Seahawks up 14-9, Rams QB Kellen Clemens got his team to Seattle's 6-yard line with 46 seconds to go and just needed to punch it in. But the Seahawks' vaunted defense held strong, forcing three incomplete passes and holding running back Daryl Richardson out of the end zone. The Hawks held on to win.

Seahawks fans couldn't believe it as they watched their team fall to a 24-0 halftime deficit against the then-winless Buccaneers at CenturyLink Field -- and it was even more unbelievable when the Hawks orchestrated a franchise-record comeback to force overtime and win it on a Steven Hauschka field goal.

Dec. 2: Cliff Avril, Michael Bennett team up for strip-TD against Saints

National pundits thought New Orleans could come into Seattle and spoil the Seahawks' season, but defensive ends Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett set the tone early in the game when they teamed up for a huge play in the first quarter. Avril strip-sacked Drew Brees and Bennett caught the ball, taking the fumble 22 yards the other way for a touchdown and setting up Seattle to cruise to a 34-7 victory at CenturyLink Field.

The 12th Man did it not once but twice this past season. First they set a new Guinness World Record for loudest crowd roar at an outdoor stadium by reaching 136.6 decibels on Sept. 15 against the 49ers. After Kansas City Chiefs fans reached 137.5 decibels in their own attempt, Seahawks fans did it again Dec. 2, when they hit 137.6 decibels while cheering the Hawks against the Saints on "Monday Night Football."

In their first trip to MetLife Stadium, the Seahawks rolled over the Giants by holding New York to a mere 25 rushing yards and picking off QB Eli Manning a whopping five times. Cornerbacks Richard Sherman and Byron Maxwell each had two interceptions and safety Earl Thomas added another as Seattle cruised to a 29-0 victory in East Rutherford, N.J.

In Seattle's divisional playoff matchup with the Saints, their second meeting of the season, Marshawn Lynch powered 15 yards up the middle for the Seahawks' first touchdown in what would be a 25-13 victory. A wild 12th Man once again caused seismic activity, marking a second "Beast Quake" run.

It was perhaps the definitive play of the Seahawks' 2013 season. As the clock wound down and the rival 49ers threatened to take the lead, S.F. QB Colin Kaepernick threw a TD pass toward receiver Michael Crabtree that Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman tipped away into the hands of teammate Malcolm Smith, sealing Seattle's victory and sending the Hawks to Super Bowl XLVIII. The play and its aftermath -- Sherman's postgame interview with Fox's Erin Andrews -- became a national obsession for two weeks.

The Seahawks were so dominant in Super Bowl XLVIII, there's no one play to highlight. From the Denver's first snap to the final whistle, Seattle manhandled Peyton Manning and the Broncos to capture the first Super Bowl title in franchise history. Pictured is lineback Malcolm Smith after he scored on a pick-six that all but secured the victory for the Seahawks at MetLife Stadium.

Seattle had never seen anything like it. More than 700,000 people braved sub-freezing temperatures and swarmed downtown Seattle for the Seahawks' victory parade, having destroyed the Broncos 43-8 for their first-ever Super Bowl championship. Marshawn Lynch stole the show by throwing Skittles, chugging Fireball liquor and banging a drum from the hood of a Ride the Ducks vehicle.